SIFF 2025 opens with record submissions and citywide screenings

by PENG Peng

The 27th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) officially opened on June 13 and will run through June 22. This year's festival received more than 3,900 film submissions from 119 countries and regions, a record high. Over 2,800 of those are in competition, with notable growth in submissions from the Americas and Africa. Short film entries rose 18% year-on-year. More than 1,820 films will make their world premiere and over 520 their international premiere, pushing the combined premiere rate above 80%.

Twelve films are competing for the Golden Goblet Award in the main competition section, including three Chinese entries. Eleven of the 12 are world premieres. The lineup includes works from the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Brazil, and Poland. The competition spans five categories: feature films, Asian newcomers, documentaries, animation, and international shorts.

The Golden Goblet jury features 21 members from 13 countries and regions. Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, known for Cinema Paradiso, chairs the main competition jury. This year's panel is the youngest in the festival's history, with an average age of 35. The Asian New Talent section, now in its 21st year, continues to spotlight emerging directors from across Asia. This year, 12 films were selected, including nine world premieres.

The Asian New Talent awards will, for the first time, be presented during the Golden Goblet Award ceremony at the closing event. Meanwhile, the youth-focused SIFF ING program, formerly SIFF YOUNGX, expands in its fourth year to spotlight new technologies, fresh perspectives, and young creators. It received over 3,600 entries in AIGC and vertical video formats.

The festival also hosts "Cannes Express," bringing select titles from this year's Cannes lineup to Chinese audiences. Screenings include Sound of Falling, winner of the Cannes Jury Prize, andYoung Mothers, the latest from the Dardenne brothers. Oscar-winning filmsThe BrutalistandNo Other Landwill also be shown.

Classic and restored works remain a major draw. The "Tribute to Masters" section highlights directors like David Lynch, Buster Keaton, and Agnès Varda. This year features a dual-master format for the first time. Hong Kong director Johnnie To's 4K restoration of PTUand a new documentary on Hong Kong trails will also screen.

To mark the 130th anniversary of world cinema and the 120th anniversary of Chinese cinema, the opening film will be screened in more than 500 special showings across Shanghai. This marks the first time the festival has offered citywide screenings of its opening film, Peter Chan's She's Got No Name, based on a sensational Republican-era murder case.

This year's lineup includes over 400 films from 71 countries and regions, shown across 48 cinemas and 61 screens in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta, with about 1,500 public screenings.

2025 is also the Year of Film Consumption in China. SIFF expands beyond screenings to include public events under the "Film+" and "Festival+" banners. The newly upgraded International Film and TV Market will open to the public for the first time by reservation, offering industry showcases and a film culture market. Other events include a Belt and Road Film Week in Pudong's Bicester Village with a Southeast Asian lifestyle market, an immersive Future Cinema experience in Putuo, and a Sci-Fi Film Week in Songjiang.

The Belt and Road film exhibition will also travel to cities including Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Hefei.

As Shanghai continues to build its reputation as a "City of Film," the annual celebration of global cinema is now in full swing.